THE ANGLO-RUSSIAN ENTENTE OF 1907	221
arrangement aptly enough: the British lion and the Russian
bear are seen mauling between them an unhappy Persian
cat; the lion is saying to the bear, "Look here! You can
play with his head, and / can play with his tail, and we can
both stroke the small of his back"; while the poor cat
moans, "I don't remember having1 been consulted about
this."219
In his memoirs Viscount Grey argues, but unconvinc-
ingly, that England had the better of the bargain: "What
we gained by it was real—what Russia gained was ap-
parent." 22° In fact, the reverse was true. Though Eng-
land gained peace of mind in regard to the Indian frontier,
she also lost much. She lost her independence of action in
Persia. Hitherto she had been free to protest and object
to the encroachments of the Russian imperialist steam-
roller crushing southward upon defenseless Persia. Hence-
forth she found herself involved as an accomplice in the
destruction of the financial and political independence of
the Shah's empire. Sir Edward Grey spon found himself
drawn along in the wake of Russian aggression and intrigue,
in a way most embarrassing to him when questioned on the
subject in the House of Commons. He protested frequently
against the activities of Russian agents in Persia. He even
hinted he would resign. "Persia," he says, "tried my pa-
tience more than any other subject/'221 Russian unscru-
pulousness and double-dealing in the Middle East contin-
ued to be a recurrent source of annoyance to him almost
up to the outbreak of the World War. One of President
Poincare's objects in visiting St. Petersburg in July, 1914,
was to smooth this discord in the harmony of the Triple
sis "The Harmless Necessary Cat," Punch, CXXXIH, 245, Oct. 2,
1907.	220 Grey, I, 155.
221 Grey, I, 164. Of. Siebert-Schreiner, p. 550 (where Grey's irrita-
tion and talk of resignation were due to Russia's "Potsdam agreements"
in 1910-11), and p. 615 (where they were due to Russian action in
Persia).